Has anyone tried the flesh colored tattooing? Has it worked? I am considering this, as the Ruby laser didn't work all that well. Please let me know if any of you have tried the tattooing. I would appreciate it. Thanks!

I'm a 29 year old Caucasian female with a Nevus of Ota also under my left eye. I never had anything there growing up and it came out once I hit puberty around 13. I had multiple teachers at school ask me if "everything was ok at home" and it was extremely frustrating and very damaging to my self esteem. At 16, my dad took me to my first laser treatment and I believe I had 2 sessions with little to no change. I've spent years trying different makeup and techniques but it has still been a huge issue emotionally still to this day. Last year I decided to get back into the laser thinking maybe after all these years the laser would be better. I've had about 3 treatments within the past year and I noticed it being a little lighter but nothing like I was hoping for. At $250 a session, I can't afford these treatments any longer or the added frustration of it not working. I struggle with people always asking me "what happened?" "Who hit you?" Or more specifically the "who is he? Ill beat him up for you" whenever I'm not wearing makeup so I completely relate to everyone here and this message board is truly a blessing bringing us all together like this. It's a very lonely feeling having this because I've never known anyone else with it.

I'm now looking into a different option, one that I never even considered before. Flesh colored tattoos. I've looked this up and found that although its somewhat uncommon, it sounds like it has worked for some people. A lot of people say it would not be a good idea because of the different skin tones during different seasons and it "wouldn't look natural" but you know what? Anything that makes it look less like a bruise I am all for because that is the most frustrating part of this condition. I would have to imagine that even if it didn't look too natural, it's got to be easier to cover than blue! I feel so bad for my boyfriend because I know people see me and look at him like he's a woman beater and I just hate it. I emailed my tattoo place that I've gotten tattoos from in the past to see what they say. I will let you all know what I find out and if I do end up doing this, I'll be posting before and after photos. at this point, I'm willing to try anything to not look like a victim of domestic abuse!

Have you tried the tattoo? I've been considering that myself and am wondering if it made any improvements if you did. Would appreciate any information. Thanks

Hello! I’m a 29 year old Caucasian female. I was born with a very faint blue mark on my right eyelid. As I was born breech, it was suspected that it was just a bruise from my knee. It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t a bruise. As I’ve grown up the birthmark became much darker and spread. It now covers the entire right side of my face and is still spreading, now across my nose. I’ve asked my husband if he’ll still love me when I’m 90 and my entire face is blue. When I was about 14 I tried laser treatments. My parents were always very supportive and anything that was ever done was because I wanted to try it. I believe I ended up having 4 or 5 treatments. After the last treatment, my eye was swollen shut for about a week. That’s when I decided it was enough. My birthmark was lightened just a little, but became darker again. I have never met anyone else with “my birthmark”. I don’t have anything to compare to. I just have my experiences and my own thoughts. Not only is my birthmark on my face, but it is also in my mouth, sinuses, ear canal, etc. When my wisdom teeth were removed, they said the roots were even blue. I remember as a child seeing dermatologists and having to sit for what seemed like an eternity as medical students lined up to see me. It was the same thing over and over again. “Oh wow! Open your mouth please. Hmmm!” And my favorite, “Yeah, we’ve never seen anything like this before!” I’ve signed all kinds of paperwork to release images to be used in text books. I’ve heard all kinds of things over the years from “who beat you up” to “were you in a wreck?”
I have two boys and my youngest has a blue mongolian spot on his back. It’s like I feel a bit guilty for it because I don’t want him to experience things the way that I did. It’s not fun when someone looks at you and says, “Oh, I’m so sorry. That must be horrible!” I chose a long time ago not to wear makeup to cover it. First because

Wow, this site is amazing; thank you everyone for posting. I no longer feel so alone!

I was born with two different colored eyes; one dark brown and one baby blue. The dark brown is still dark brown and is the side where the Nevus of Ota is; the baby blue eye turned hazel. It will become very, very light when I am overly tired.

Around the time I was 18, discoloration on my left temple developed; about the size of a quarter. By the time I was 28 it had spread upward on my forehead and down toward my cheek. I had it biopsied then; I was diagnosed with a Nevus of Ota.

It seems every ten or so years it spreads more. It surrounds the eye lids now, upper and lower, down around the left cheek, and up and center on my forehead. I have discoloration on the sclera, but not too bad.

I've seen an eye doctor (MD) nearly every year since I was born; I have other eye problems, corrected with prescription glasses since I was two years old.

I went to Cleveland for a laser surgery consult several years ago, but they would not do it because I have psoriasis and they said my skin would not be able to recover well.

I am Caucasian and nearing 60 years old. I've used Dermablend when I was younger; now I don't worry about it; it is what it is. Although, I do try to wear my hair and bangs in such a way that my hair and eye glasses "generally" conceals most of the discoloration. If I'm not successful in concealing it, I do get asked, like others, "what happened!" Or, even more commonly, "You look so tired!" when I am wide-awake.

Hello, I also just found out yesterday, the name of what has caused me so many tears and depression and have also been asked those same questions, who hit you? Are you ok? And not to mention the stares... wow Why me I used to ask myself.. Well im 35 now and I actually learned to love my birthmark lol it grew on me literally haha, I cover it up beautifully, nobody even imagines that nevus of ota lives on my face lol.. but ive decided to have it removed, my husband made a mean comment , he said he never kisses me due to the amount of makeup I wear, him knowing that I wear a tasteful amt because of my terrible mark.. His comment got me thinking that first of all what A JERK LOL second that I don't have to live with this anymore... im not doing it for him , I guess the wrong comment from the wrong person made me realize that I have options, I can remove this but others cant remove their ugliness of their lack of understanding that we are born physically different and its sad to say that the world is full of ignorance. I go in to have it partially removed on july 19 2013 with a ruby laser used to remove tattoos.. im ready and willing to be over this ordeal... hopefully soon I will be saying goodbye to my nevus of ota....

Please let us know how it works for you. And the
Details regarding type of Ruby laser. What is your skin type?
Thanks and best of luck!! Thoughts are with you.

hi every one im new to this as i only found this site today im 27 and have known i had nevus of the ota since i was 16 over the years its got worse especially after having my 3 children! no one ever told me that the hormones in your body from pregnancy could make it worse! any way i have it under my eye moving down towards my cheek it is also in the inner white of my eye at first u couldnt notice it but now you can which is horrible as i dont like to look at people when i talk to them and try to wear sunglasses alot of the time!! ive been trying to look for anything that can make te apperaence of my eye look normal but no such luck!! the pigmented skin doesnt really bother me i wear covermark makeup and this covers it well!! dont get me wrong i would love to roll out of bed and not have to put any makeup on!!! im looking into laser treatment any one recommend any where in the uk? and also does anyone else suffer with pigment on the white of their eye?

Hi,

I didn't know it could get qorse after pregnancy... I guess it makes sense if there is a change in hormones. (I got mine at puberty).

My name is Kevin and Im a 31 year old Caucasian male and I've had Nevus of Ota since birth. I was born with different colour eyes (green and blue) and gradually they turned brown with one now almost black and one brown. The left eye has the nevus of ota and is the very dark brown eye. By the time I reach puberty it had spread from the white of my eye to the upper eye lid and under the eye. Ultimately this resulted in the appearance of a black eye and would get asked multiple times a day if I'd been fighting.

After a vistit to the doctors I got booked in for laser treatment to remove the appearance of a black eye around the skin of the eye, after about 8 treatments you can hardly notice it anymore and just have a blue and brown speckled marking around the pupil in the white part of the eye.

This is my story and I'm please to see that other people have this unique birthmark.

I am a 26 yr old Caucasian female and have had discoloration around my right rue for as long as I can remember. It has gone through times of bring nearly gone to times like the past 5 years where it is dark purple/blue/black. I also have two different colored eyes...left eye is hazel and right eye is a very dark brown. The dark eye also has pigmentation in the whites.

I can't believe I have finally found a group of people who can relate to this frustrating and somewhat mysterious birthmark.

I would love to continue hearing how people are dealing with what I refer to as "black eye". Keep sharing and I'll do the same!

Any idea if there are health risks with this - or if it is hereditary?

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for individuals with birthmarks.

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